Wednesday, November 30, 2011

Bollywood Wedding Season in 2012

2012 seems to be the year of the big, fat Bollywood weddings. Several celebrity couples are finally getting ready to tie the knot

It looks like 2012 will be the year of some real Bollywood romances culminating in grand weddings. And they might turn out to be more entertaining than many other Bollywood shaadis, both on and off screen.

Here's a list of lovebirds, who may soon be seen shopping for trousseau and planning their honeymoon as they set to take the big step next year.

They are called the Brangelina of Bollywood; like the Hollywood glamour couple, you'd think Saif and Kareena might never really zero in on a date for their marriage.

Speculations have been rife about Bebo tying the knot with Saifu ever since they made their relationship official at a fashion event in 2007.

The media even secretly married them off several times in the past two years. A headline screamed, "Saif-Kareena's secret nikaah!" However, now finally the Kapoor gal and the Khan boy have decided to solemnise their love on paper and declare it to the world.

"We are getting married in Feb or March, " Saif was quoted as saying, last month. The two, who have remained committed to each other since four years, have maintained that marriage would not change much.

Says Kareena, "Even now we go on holidays and try and take out as much time as possible for each other.


Kareena Kapoor-Saif Ali Khan
Shaadi style: Traditional Punjabi wedding/royal wedding
Wedding mantra: Better late than never


So this way, I hope I get more time to spend with Saif. Nothing else would change. We both are neck deep in work and it would be the same even post marriage."


Riteish Deshmukh-Genelia D'souza
Shaadi style: Maharashtrian wedding
Wedding mantra: Politics of love


After their shaadi, Ritiesh and Genelia could probably work together on a book called '100 ways to deny being in a relationship'.

They have been dating ever since their first film together, Tujhe Meri Kasam (2003). It baffles us to wonder why the two have denied their relationship for the last eight years. It was only last year when the two started making appearances hand-in-hand at award functions.

When he'd crack a joke on stage, the camera would pan to her blushing face. Well, that's what love does to you and perhaps why the two stuck it out despite rumours of the Deshmukh family not being too pleased with a non-Maharashtrain bahu.

The couple got engaged in October (which Riteish denied again) and is now expected to get married early next year.


Vidya Balan- Siddharth Roy Kapoor
Shaadi style: Tamil -Bengali wedding
Wedding mantra: Ooh la la...


She acted in No One Killed Jessica, which was produced by him. By the end of that film, the only two people who were left a little love hurt were Ms Balan and Mr Roy Kapoor.

This south Indian beauty and Bengali (which incidentally is one of her favourite languages) babu fell head over heels for each other and were soon seen taking long walks on the sunny beaches of Goa.

Just before the promotions of The Dirty Picture began, social networking sites were abuzz about their 'secret' wedding.

However, Vidya was recently quoted saying "I am enjoying my courtship period now, but I'm not married." Buzz is that if all goes well, the two may share a surname by sometime next year.

She's at the peek of her career and he's making movies like never before. The picture seems perfect!


Soha Ali Khan and Kunal Khemu
Shaadi style: Royal wedding
Wedding mantra: No-secret shaadi


Their impending wedding isn't exactly the talk of the town but might boast of an illustrious guest list. But we cannot ignore the fact, Saif's little sister has finally chosen to settle down with boyfriend Kunal Khemu.

Her love life may not grab as many reams of newsprint as her brother's, but we think mum Sharmila Tagore will make sure daughter Soha's bidaai is one that people would remember and talk about over the years.

Potential pati-patnis
John Abraham-Priya Marwah
Dia Mirza-Sahil Sangha
Randeep Hooda-Neetu Chandra

Land Gold Women Premiere Show








My Go-To Christmas Decor

Well…it’s finally starting to look like CHRISTMAS up in here! I had forgotten how much I love turning off all the lights and letting just the Christmas lights twinkle. Magic. :)

As I was pulling decor out today, it occurred to me that I use the same formula every year for most of my holiday decorating. I’ve mentioned it before, but I think it’s worth repeating.

I think any home can look Christmas-tastic with three things:

1. Garland/greenery
2. Ornaments/sparkle
3. Natural elements

I used to decorate with mostly holiday-specific things – so that meant I had to take down all the current accessories and replace them with new. Let me tell you, it gets exhausting. :) All the lugging stuff down to the basement, lugging the bins up, lugging them back down, lugging the year-round accessories back UP after the holidays.

Whew. Lots of lugging.

Now I do my best to use what I already have up and Christmasfy it.

Like taking the lemons and limes out of a basket and replacing them with pinecones and ornaments:

decorating with ornaments

Score one for ornaments and natural. ;)

Remember my DIY trough thingy I made for the family room? I used all of the above to make it work for the holidays and I love how it turned out!

My favorite tool this time of year is my wire cutter:

wire cutters for garland

I cut my garland all apart using this baby. I leave some in one piece as a base, then cut individual pieces off different types of greenery to stick in here and there. It makes the end result full and more interesting. (I think.)

Then I add the lights (OK, there should be a No. 4 on that list – lights are a must for sure) and fill in any empty spots with ornaments, sparkly beady stuff and pinecones:

greenery and lights

I drilled a hole into the back of the trough so I could put the lights right through it.

NO CORDS ALLOWED.

:)

OK really, not kidding.

I added a sparkly dollar store ornament to the mirror above the TV and called it done:

LOVE. :)

Today I worked on the Goodwill shelves in our kitchen -- again, using what we already have. I stuffed some sparkly red pics in my little pitcher and then some real greenery as well:

greenery in pitcher

Is it sad that one of my very favorite parts of our new backyard is the fact that we had arborvitaes planted, so now I have access to REAL green in our house this time of year?

It makes me positively giddy. I felt like Heidi frolicking around the evergreens out there.

I used little snips of it to fill in some spots, and bigger swags that I just laid on the shelves, along with some sparkly faux greenery (that I cut off of it’s stem).

Sparkly, yes. Natural, yes. Greenery, yes. I tell ya – it works!

Add some ornaments to the mix and I really don’t think you can go wrong:

green bowl red ornaments

I LOVE the pop of green of this vintage pedestal from my late father-in-law’s house. The added bonus is I think of him every time I walk by this little vignette. :)

I wanted to keep some fun in the display, so I added a couple dollar tree trees (huh?) from a few years ago:

red and white felt trees

I love love love how this little mix turned out:

red green white christmas vignette

Best part is I already had everything. Boo.yah.

I don’t think you can get more classic than red, green and white. As much as I try to get into different colors for the season, I ALWAYS gravitate back to the classics for most of our decor.

I went the same direction with our (new) mantel – here’s a sneak peek, just cause I’m so giddy about it:

red green white mantel

This is why it takes me longer than I hope to decorate for the holidays – it’s not always just pulling an item out of the bins and setting it up. It’s taking different parts of a recipe and making something visually yummy. :)

Trying to use what I have and making it work for holiday decor is a challenge, but I eat it up. It’s WAY more fun to me – it totally gets my decorating mojo going and I love watching it all come together. It’s my thang.

By the way. This is behind the scenes of it all coming together:

I firmly believe there has to be a bit of madness in order to get to the good stuff. :)

So what are your go to’s for decorating for the season? Do we have the same list? What colors do you use in your holiday decor? I’d love to hear!

* Spell check does not recognize “Christmasfy” and “Christmas-tastic.” What is this world coming to?

** I believe I said “sparkly” 58 times.

Mad about decorating with Poinsettias! (in my own home)




My kitten has her eye on something. And that's those pretty red poinsettias at the bottom of the stairs.


But I did lots more than just place them there. They landed everywhere. :)

Please come visit that post HERE to see the place all decked out... with poinsettias!


All parts to this series are HERE





 Photobucket



NestKeeping: Monthly Recap for November (and three giveaway winners)~

Happy last day of November everybody!  I can't believe how quickly this year zoomed by!  Only 25 more shopping days until Christmas (don't remind me)!

November was a fun month here at The Shabby Nest!  It started off with my announcement that The Shabby Nest won Best Decorating Blog in the first annual Country Living Blue Ribbon Blogger awards!  If you missed it, you can read all about that and my trip to New York for the awards ceremony here.

Via CountryLiving.com

Then I was really excited when I saw my face staring back at me from the pages of  Country Living magazine!!  (Now I can cross that off my bucket list - LOL!) You can read more about that here.



Another big event in November was my Living Room reveal!!  You can read all about that here.



I shared with you all how I went about creating my Living Room accent wall (seen behind the sofa in the photo above) here.



And I told you about my fun FLOR area rug here.


Of course, what would a month on The Shabby Nest be without some tutorials??  This month I shared a couple of fun wall art ideas with you. 

First was my Wallpaper Sample Art tutorial.  You can read about that here.




And then I shared my Reindeer Silhouette Wall Art.  You can read about that here.


And don't forget about Frugal Friday!  Tons of great Frugal Inspiration linking up from around blogland each week.  If you missed any of the amazing links during the  month of November you can find them here, here, here and here.

December is shaping up to be another amazing month!!  We are busy painting the remaining two bedrooms in the house, and I'm hoping to give myself the gift of finishing up the Princess' room this month....and getting the master well on its way.  And, of course, what would December be without Christmas decorations??  Can't wait to share those!! Hope you'll all join me for a Holly Jolly December here at The Shabby Nest!! My readers rock!!

Finally, the winners of the Elmer's Glue gift pack giveaway are Janet  and Heidi at Decor & More

And the winner of the GiGi's Petals gift card giveaway is Pam Ballard!

Congratulations ladies!! Please contact me so we can set you up with your prizes!

Have a great day~

Winter Scene

Today I have an easy card to create using dies and punches.  The products I used can be purchased from Joan's Gardens.  They are:  Memory Box "Leaf Canopy" (98142); Memory Box "Twiggy Tree" (98143); Memory Box "Deer Trio" (98166); Cheery  Lynn "Border Carnivale" (DL 120); Martha Stewart "Aspen Snowflake" punches.




I started with a piece of sparkly aqua card stock 5 5/8" square and placed the Leaf Canopy near the top and taped it down then ran it through the die cutting machine.  This dies creates a lot of leaf shaped holes in the card stock.  You may remember I used this die in an earlier post to create an autumn scene.


Next, this Twiggy Tree was die cut using white card stock.  It was glued, using liquid glue, in the center of the Leaf Canopy.  Next I die cut two Cheery Lynn Border Carnivale borders and placed them, alternating the scallops, to create the snowy ground. 



The deer were die cut using white card stock.  When you die cut these deer, they do not cut out completely - the feet stay attached so you can use them in a group as shown.  I wanted to spread them across the bottom of my card so cut them off at the feet and attached with liquid glue. 


For the border around the snow scene, I used the Martha Stewart "Aspen Snowflake" punches.  I love these punches to create Christmas cards because you not only get a pretty border but can use the punched out snowflakes on your project.  You can see these snowflakes around the tree.  

The sentiment is from the JustRite "Sparky and Friends" stamp set.  It was cut out with a Spellbinders Tag, and sponged before removing it.  I used a paper piercer to punch holes around the edge then added two of the small snowflakes.  To complete the card I added an aqua silk bow.

All the products I use can be purchased from Joan's Gardens.

Are you checking out Joan's 12 Days of Christmas Sale?  Each day you order from this sale, you will be entered into a drawing for a wonderful prize at the end of the sale.  Be sure to check it all out at Joan's Gardens.

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Favorite things for $30 or less


 I would wither and die if I didn't have some of these favourite consumable things for under $30.


If you're a Keurig coffee fan, try the Mexico variety. LOVE it. (Black Silk is nice too) Add less water for more kick and you have one kickin' homebrew to start your morning off right.


But then again, ya gotta have a fav when out and about. Some love it, others hate it, but I need it. Starbucks pumpkin spiced latte is my method of madness. Grande, 3 pumps instead of 4. It just makes me HAPPY!

If you'll note on my blog sidebar, I don't have a Shaklee sponsor so I'm not pumping this just because. But I USE to and she got me absolutely hooked on these products. I no longer buy the average bear out there, I must have these three at the very least. At all times. Or I'm unhappy.

#1. Get Clean Nature Bright - laundry whitener. I can't STAND the smell of bleach and this is just... clean. No fragrance. LOVE. And it works.

#2. Get Clean Dish Wash - there is no other dish washing soap that works this well nor stays this sudsy that I know of. No scummy residue on my counters. It's perfection and I'm emotionally upset when I run out.

#3. Get Clean Fresh Laundry - unscented. I detest scented laundry products. DETEST. Even the stuff that says it's unscented  IS scented. Well, this isn't. I want fresh and clean. This is it. No scent and it works.


If you ever land Brookside dark chocolate covered cranberries, don't hesitate. Not even for a moment. Perfection! I'll take this over higher quality chocolates any day.


Have one of these? It's a garage door keypad. You can purchase them at any big box stores. You jive it in with your auto garage door opener and you're in business! They generally come with a remote that fits on your keychain too. INVALUABLE. I'm able to leave the code with neighbours if they need something and I'm not home. Saves loads of trekking through the house.

I'm not sure if these are under $30 or not, but if they're more, chalk it up to TWO things I love then. Just get one.

Olpha stainless steel knives

Granted, I use these for my work. But I'd buy them even if I didn't. The stainless blades are tricky to find, but if you do, you'll never go back to non stainless again. The blades just stay sharper longer. Not o mention, these are a nice slim fit for a hand, which offers you more accurate cutting for small things. I draw with these things on vinyl. Would you rather cut with a pen or a block of wood? That's why I love these.



I don't have this brand, but the real point is, a real lens cleaner in a cute little pump bottle far outweighs any alternative when trying to quickly clean your glasses. I keep mine by the kitchen sink.


Scentsy Mochadoodle

If you like your house smelling pretty but are hesitant on real flames, this is the answer. And the Mochadoodle scent is my alltime fav.


Swiffer, oh how I love thee! Nothing picks up pet hair on hardwood floors like this. I'm not really happy with having to replace the swiffer pads though, but I use them a few times before I do. If you sweep first, then use this, you can prolong the agony of making more landfill and having to buy them so often.  Then again I don't have a Dyson animal yet do I... but it's over $30 so this is it for now.

That was fun! I needed to write something fluffy this AM and now I did. I'm all better. :) (I'll be adding more as I think of them)

What are some of your purchased fav things for under $30?
Share in comments! I'd love to see what I'm missing out on.

Nester is having an impromptu $30 or less favorite things link party. Come join!